Can Tinnitus qualify as a permanent disability that will allow you to receive benefits? Are you looking to avail benefits from the Social Security Administration, the VA or from a private insurance company? Below, you will find answers to these pressing questions.
Is Tinnitus a Disability?
How the VA Recognizes Tinnitus Disability? (Veterans Affairs – U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Yes, Tinnitus is a disability that is recognized by the VA. In fact, it is the most claimed disability, second only to hearing loss. In 2015, 160,000 vets successfully claimed Tinnitus as a benefit paying disability. It is estimated that more than 1.5 Million veterans currently receive disability benefits for having Tinnitus as a debilitating condition.
What is Your Tinnitus Handicap Score?
Calculate your THI Score in about 2-3 Minutes
You can also visit the VA’s website to learn more about how to file a VA disability claim.
How Is Tinnitus Tested by the VA?
Tinnitus is tested by administering a test called the C&P (Compensation and Pension) Examination. In the Tinnitus specific C&P test, you will be tested with a speech recognition and pure tone audiogram test. The average results of these two tests are then used to evaluate whether or not Tinnitus is a disability that you suffer from. Interviews, forms and other information collected on an as needed basis will also usually be used to evaluate you.
One must take the C&P test fairly to give the VA office a genuine chance at understanding if Tinnitus is indeed a debilitating condition. Only then can it decide if it is worthy of deserving a disability benefit payment. Tests for Tinnitus are often intentionally failed by candidates hoping to receive a disability payment. Every month, more than 500 people Google search for the phrase “how to fail a test for Tinnitus”
How Severe is Your Tinnitus?
Find out by using this THI (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory) Scoring Calculator
What Proof Does the VA Require to Award a Tinnitus Disability Benefit?
Three primary forms of evidence are looked at by the VA.
- Your current diagnosis by your primary care provider, that you have Tinnitus
- Proof of an injury, incident or event(s) in your service record
- A connection (Nexus Statement) that the above injury, incident or event(s) in your service record caused your Tinnitus
- Nexus can be proved by;
- Medical records
- Doctor letters
- Expert (Specialist) letters
- Service records
- Lay Statements (Buddy Letters from friends and personnel who knew you in the service)
- Nexus can be proved by;
Tinnitus is most commonly caused by sudden or constant exposure to loud noise. With service personnel handling weapons, explosions, heavy machinery, ears can be damaged even if hearing protection is worn.
Other service related events that can cause Tinnitus are trauma or injury to the head or neck and changes in pressure (swimming, flying, diving, high elevation service), both occupational hazards for those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
How much does the VA pay as Tinnitus disability benefit?
The maximum rating the VA awards for Tinnitus (in one or both ears) is 10%. In other words, the VA DOES NOT PAY 10% for each ear. As of December 2020, a 10% rating equates to a benefit payment of $144.14 per month, according to the official compensation table provided by the VA’s official website.
Tinnitus and Hearing Loss Can Receive Separate Disability Benefit Payments
Tinnitus and hearing loss often go hand in hand. In fact, 90% of Tinnitus sufferers also have hearing loss. The VA treats hearing loss and Tinnitus as two distinguishable disabilities that each deserve a disability payment of its own.
VA’s Secondary Conditions to Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a debilitating condition that can cause several secondary conditions. The VA recognizes certain conditions as conditions that can receive additional disability benefits.
These secondary conditions are;
- Migraines
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Hyperacusis (Sound Sensitivity)
- Sleep Apnea
- Somatic Symptom Disorder (Extreme focus on distress caused by Tinnitus)
How the Social Security Administration Recognizes Tinnitus as a Disability?
The Social Security Administration defines a disability as a condition that prevents you from working for a year or more. It also requires said condition to be listed in the SSA Bluebook.
Tinnitus is NOT listed in the SSA’s Bluebook. However, Tinnitus can still be claimed as a disability if the petitioner can prove that it is related to another SSA recognized disability like hearing loss or Meniere’s disease, both of which can cause Tinnitus.
Most people who are able to receive a Social Security disability benefit for Tinnitus have been able to prove that they have hearing loss. There are several additional conditions that apply though, making approval rather difficult.
What Proof does the SSA require to award disability benefit for Tinnitus?
- Long medical history that includes discharge summaries, imaging studies, lab work
- An examination or evaluation and approval by the SSA’s own appointed physician
- Proof that Tinnitus limits the candidate from seeking employment in their line or alternative lines of work
- An evaluation of a candidate’s age, work history, job skills, training and education level
- A requirement that the candidate shouldn’t be earning more than $1,170 per month (as of December 2020)
If applying for a social security benefit, you must understand that you may be denied even if your doctor provides a statement that your Tinnitus is a disability. Your doctor or physicians statement must ideally and additionally provide a lot more detail. It must mention details such as how you are functionally limited and to what extent Tinnitus affects your abilities to seek and retain employment.
How much Social Security Benefit Will Be Paid for Tinnitus Disability?
Unlike the VA, SSA payments are very subjective. Approvals are also hard to get and therefore public data is not readily available.
How It Works with Private Insurance Companies?
After the VA and the SSA, in that particular order, it is perhaps most difficult to successfully claim Tinnitus disability benefit from private health insurance companies.
Insurance companies tend to heavily focus on hearing loss. If you can’t prove substantial hearing loss or hearing impairment, chances are that Tinnitus won’t be recognized as a disability.
Even if you do suffer from hearing loss that you can prove, you will be scrutinized for the Tinnitus treatment you have been receiving. If you have opted not to receive Tinnitus treatment, your disability claim will usually be denied. Insurance companies will also scrutinize whether the treatment you receive is “appropriate” treatment. You will also have to prove compliance to this appropriate treatment. Additionally, they will require proof that your Tinnitus is chronic or that it will be an ongoing disability.
If you are somehow approved for a Tinnitus disability payment after jumping through all these hoops, you will be required to go through at least two reviews a year, to again prove that Tinnitus is a disability for which you need to receive a disability benefit.
Learn more about how you can manage your Tinnitus at this Tinnitus blog here.
